My friend said that a literal hell does not exist. He says hell was made up by organized religion in order to keep people in line. He thinks evil people are destroyed when they die and claims the Bible says so, too. What really happens to wicked people after their physical deaths?

Jesus gave a parable, very clear, about a rich man who dined sumptuously. He wore beautiful clothes. There was a beggar named Lazarus who was content to eat the scraps off the rich man’s table. The Bible says they both died. He says the beggar was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man wound up in hell. He saw Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom, and he says, “Please, send Lazarus over to me and just dip his finger in some water, because I am 'tormented by this flame.'” Abraham said, “I’m sorry, old buddy, but there is a great gulf between us. He can’t go from where he is to you, and you can’t come over to us. You are set there forever.” Jesus Himself talked about outer darkness. He talked about a lake that burns with fire. He talked about eternal separation from God. Hell is real. Whether it’s the torment of the flames of remorse, it’s what you could have had. The Bible talks the lake of fire reserved for the devil and his angels. There is no doubt that it’s real.

Pat,
do you believe there are such beings as guardian angels? Who are
they, what are their duties, and whom do they protect?

The Bible says that there are ministering spirits sent to
look after the heirs to salvation. Those who know the Lord indeed
have ministering angels. Jesus talked about little children and
said, 'Their angels always behold the face of my father in heaven.'
What do they do? They are there to protect you and to help you.
God has put a certain shield around those who love Him to keep
them from the assault of the devil. Otherwise we would be under
attack all of the time. The life that we live, we should live
with the view that we have an angel present. And if we want their
help, we should act like we would expect them to be with us. If
we begin to act in a contrary fashion, the angels may withdraw
their protection.

Are there levels in Heaven? Will some people have a greater resurrection than others? I thought we all are equal in Heaven. It doesn’t mean fair that some people will get a better eternity.

Pat Robertson

Well, they talk about rewards [for] those that have done the Lord’s will. You look the parable of the talents. Those who used what they had found that they got more. So I do think there are levels of reward in Heaven. Paul talked about being caught up into the third Heaven, as if there are several layers of Heaven. The Bible doesn’t give us a full roadmap on this whole thing. But it says we will all stand before the judgment seat, the Bema, of Jesus Christ to receive what we have done in our bodies. So if you’ve been a slouch and haven’t done anything, you’ve just barely skated through, you’ll be saved as if by the skin of your teeth. Others will get rewards. That’s what the Bible teaches.

Kristi Watts

What about the Scripture that talks about the many mansions? Does that mean that some people have mansions and some people have condos and townhouses?

Pat Robertson

The best translation in the Greek is dwelling places. “In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” Not mansions. Forget mansions. All right. Bad translation.

Will
hell have degrees of punishment? Will someone like Saddam Hussein
face a longer, harder hell than others that may have led decent
lives outside of Christ?

The thing you don't realize is that sin is sin. It is probably
no worse to kill somebody than it is to slander him or her. If
you slander their reputation, you are killing them. But slander
seems to be cool in most churches. There is all kind gossip and
slander going on, and everybody thinks it is OK, whereas if someone
does something promiscuous in the sexual way, they are shunned.
Sin is sin because it is all an offense against God. I don't know
anything about venial sins and mortal sins and peccadillos. I
know our friends in the Catholic Church categorize them, but I
see nothing in the Bible that indicates that. We are sinners,
and the wages of sin is death -- period. Dante had various levels
of hell in his writings, The Divine Comedy. I just don't
believe in that. I don't believe it is biblical.

Is
there really a heaven, or when we die is that it?

The Apostle Paul said, "Eye has not seen, and ear has not
heard, and which have not entered the heart of man all that God
has prepared for those who love Him." Heaven is so wonderful
that we can't conceive of it, yet Paul went on to say that the
Lord has revealed it to us by His Spirit. These things are spiritually
discerned.

We read in the Book of Revelation of streets of gold that are
like clear crystal. It needs no light because the light of God
is in it. It has a river flowing from the throne of God, with
trees growing on either side of it that are for the healing of
the nations. You see people walking in bliss and the redeemed
souls praising God. You have pictures in the Book of Revelation
of the throne of God. Throughout the Bible there are scenes describing
the seraphim, the "burning ones" that burn with their
holiness, surrounding God's throne. We also read of the cherubim
and the twerity-four elders that are throwing down their crowns
before God. God is sitting in the midst of this, the firmament
beneath Him, and the brilliance of gemstones sparkling in His
presence. Heaven will be blinding in its beauty!

The Bible says, "There shall no longer be any death; and
there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the
first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said,
"Behold I am making all things new." We will live eternally
in a new heaven and a new earth. There will be no more fear, poverty,
sickness, war, or suffering, because these things will have passed
away.

Jesus believed in heaven, and He encouraged His disciples to
look forward to their eternal home. He said, "'In My Father's
house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have
told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to
Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.' "

How do we know heaven exists? Not because of deathbed confessions
or "life after life" reports from people who claim to
have "died" while on the hospital operating table and
then traveled down a long tunnel toward a bright light. No, we
believe heaven exists, because Jesus Christ said so.

Recently my Sunday school teacher remarked we won’t see anyone in Heaven except Jesus because He’s all we’ll need. Is that what the Bible says? Won’t we at least be able to see our loved ones?

Oh, I think definitely that the saints of God, the angels of God—of course, we’ll see our loved ones in Heaven. Jesus will occupy things, because He’s so bright. But it’s a city that the redeemed of the Lord will walk in the gates. There won’t just be one person there. We’ll see our loved ones, I believe it, in Heaven. Glorious reunions.